The Brides of Chance Collection Read Online Free PDF Page B

worked, but he had neither the time nor the patience to do much of that. Instead, he hauled them all back to the fire.
    Steam rose from the huge, cast-iron cauldron. The soap bubbled a bit on the surface. Yeah, that looked just like it did when Mama used to have laundry day. Satisfied with the wash water, he dumped in Miriam’s white clothes and stirred them with a paddle. After he made sure they’d come clean, he double rinsed them so the lye residue wouldn’t irritate her delicate skin or rot the thin cotton fabric, then wrung out each snowy garment and hung it on the clothesline. It seemed mighty strange to see a woman’s things there.
    He washed the baby’s white things next, then did the rest of the laundry. It was a hot, miserable job, and he didn’t feel guilty in the least for how he kept leaving things in the pot to boil a bit while he went off to tickle Polly or play peekaboo with Ginny Mae.
    Once all the clothes fluttered in the wind, he hitched each of the girls under his arms and hiked over to the garden. They played in the dirt and mud while he staked up the tomatoes and watered the melons and beans. Polly was giggling, and Ginny Mae just about put a worm in her mouth when Gideon looked up to see Miriam standing there. He snatched the worm from Ginny Mae and stammered, “They’re dirty right now, but they’re good girls.”
    A tender smile lit her face. “They’re beautiful, and they’ll clean up. Little girls deserve to make mud pies.” She self-consciously tugged at her robe, then stooped down. Instead of grabbing, she simply opened her arms. Polly went right to her. “Hello, poppet. You’re my Polly-girl, and you are every bit as precious as your mama said.”
    Polly rubbed her hand up and down the soft fabric of her aunt’s green dressing gown. “Pretty.”
    A becoming blush stained her cheeks. “Yes, well, Auntie Miriam needs her clothes.”
    “They’re on the clothesline. It’s hot today, so they’ll be dry in a few hours,” Gideon said.
    “What about my trunks?”
    “They’re in town. I’ll see if we can’t fetch them in a day or two.”
    “In the meantime, I’ll take the girls inside with me. There’s plenty to do. I’m sure you have more than enough to accomplish.”
    He looked at her, then slowly said, “It’s my day to have the girls.”
    “Your day?”
    “We each take a day. Daniel takes two days since they’re his daughters.”
    Still fussing with her dressing gown, she murmured, “Seeing as I’m able to mind the girls, I’m sure you have much to do elsewhere.”
    “I won’t deny that, but I don’t know that leaving the girls with you is such a keen plan. Polly doesn’t cotton to strangers.”
    “Polly and I will get along famously.” One of the brothers walked past. Miriam wasn’t sure which one he was, but she blushed at the way he eyed her in her night wear. “So if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be off.”
    He cast a glance at his brother’s back, then eyed her attire with a frown. “You can’t traipse around in that all day. Borrow something from your sister’s trunk.”
    “I don’t know if I can. I—”
    “I’ll handle it with Daniel. Go on inside.”
    She took both girls back toward the cottage. The dirt felt good under her bare feet. After all of that time on a ship, she wanted solid earth beneath her for the rest of her days. The slight breeze carried the scents of pine, horses, and hay. Men’s baritones mingled in the background, a deep counterpoint to the musical trills of songbirds and the scolds of jays.
    This place was all that her life in the islands had not been. The air felt dry, not humid. The flowers were plentiful but tiny instead of cloying and exuberant. Browns and muted greens dominated the landscape instead of a kaleidoscope of brilliant jewel tones. These men crowded in one home, shared one bedroom. This was a far cry from the stringent rules they lived by back home to ensure privacy, modesty, and decorum. In odd